I am a Latin America focused analyst and writer. I split my time between New York City and Mexico City. I have written feature articles on business, organized crime, politics, and culture for The Atlantic, MONOCLE, Americas Quarterly, The Nation, Lapham's Quarterly, and a number of other publications. I have worked on projects along Mexico's northern border as well as in the hills of places like Jalisco, Michoacan, and Guerrero. I have a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University (SIPA). In the last few years I've had the chance to work on projects in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, India, and China. Follow me on Twitter: LatAmLENS.

Why Are U.S. Citizens Fighting Cartel Gunmen In Mexico?

While Mexico’s constitution has long protected the right of indigenous groups to form their own policing and justice systems. The “community police” currently battling the Caballeros Templarios cartel in southwestern state of Michoacan have a different profile from other groups, perhaps most notably for the presence of locals who lived in the U.S. as migrant workers and at least one U.S. citizen. For instance, Edgar Orozco, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen left his home in California to come to Michoacan after Templario gunmen murdered his uncle and cousin.

According to The Washington Post, “The movement’s top leader, surgeon Jose Manuel Mireles, lived for several years in Sacramento and worked for the Red Cross. Since he was injured in a plane crash earlier this month, much of the movement’s military leadership has fallen to a 34-year-old El Paso car salesman named Luis Antonio Torres Gonzalez, known as ‘El Americano’ because he was born in the States.”

The citizen’s movement emerged last year after residents grew tired of abuses by the cartel— an organized crime group that emerged to push out members of the notoriously violent Zetas and later evolved into a homegrown replacement. Although originally the group broadcast itself as a benevolent drug trafficking organization, the Caballeros Templarios later expanded their activities to include extorting and abusing local residents.

A citizen police member stands guard at a checkpoint in Mexico. (Photo by N. Parish Flannery @ LatAmLENS)

Jaime Rivera Velázquez, a researcher at the University of Michoacán said that the Knights Templar “are just as criminal and cruel as the Zetas. But the Zetas are more sincere about their brutality. They don’t hide behind Bible verses.”

As extortion payments and incidents of cartel gunmen raping and killing residents increased, locals banded together in early 2013.

“Everybody who lives over there sends money to his family here, and nobody wants to pay the Templarios no more,” Orozco, the U.S. citizen said.

Moises Verduzco, one member of the citizens “autodefensa” force says that before being deported from California he joined a gang and spent time in jail. “I’m familiar with guns,” he said. But, now back in Michoacan, he added, “It feels good to be doing the right thing for the first time.”

According to The Dallas Morning News“In Michoacán [a state], associated with decades-old migration routes to the United States — California, Illinois and North Texas in particular — the widening conflict has become President Enrique Peña Nieto’s most pressing security headache. It underscores lives intertwined across borders, including members of the latest exodus.”

Manuel, a resident of Dallas who is awaiting the arrival of his niece, one of many Michoacan residents intent on fleeing violence, said “This is a domino effect…What happens back in our homeland affects us, consumes us, keeps us awake at night.”

According to Rivera, the researcher, “The phenomenon of migration has helped migrants open their eyes, changed their attitudes from being more co-dependent to more independent.”

“They want change, and that’s helping impact the dynamics on the ground,” he added.

Ismael Lozano, a 36-year-old heavily tattooed former gang-member, returned to Michoacan from the U.S. to join the “autodefensa” movement.

“I believe in second chances…Not just for myself, but for my state,” he said.

Mexico’s government has sent in thousands of soldiers and federal police to help restore order in Michoacan.

For now, the “autodefensa” groups are working alongside members of Mexico’s army and federal police.

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